Ex-Wildcat, Arthur Jackson III, to continue football career at Eastern Michigan

Arthur Jackson III wanted to play football at a university for as long as he could remember.

Those elevated aspirations were with him when he was wowing the crowd at Will C. Wood and they remained with him 40 miles up the road at American River College the past two seasons.

Hard-set on bridging that gap once and for all with a strong sophomore season, the former Wildcats wide receiver catapulted himself into the conversations of college recruiters and has signed a scholarship with Eastern Michigan in January.

But while Jackson took the unconventional route to turn this page in his young career, he believes that the past two years at American River have allowed him to mature as a student-athlete and has made this step that much sweeter for him and his family.

“It means more to me,” Jackson said. “When I received my scholarship offers, I was just staring off and was on the edge of tears. The sacrifices my mom (Teri) and dad (Art) made to allow me to get here meant everything. Now, this opportunity is finally in front of me.”

As a significant deep threat for the Beavers, Jackson hauled in 45 receptions for 686 yards and logged a team-best 13 receiving touchdowns. In his first two games, Jackson made an immediate splash with a combined 10 catches, 264 receiving yards and five touchdowns against Diablo Valley and Modesto.

Although he was appreciative of the opportunity to have an amplified workload beside a quality group of teammates, Jackson felt as if he could’ve done more to help his team as they went 10-2 and ultimately fell to San Mateo 24-21 in the California Community College Northern California championship.

“After the first few games, I felt I was in store for an even better year,” Jackson explained. “Honestly, I was let down by my numbers. But we ended up having a really balanced team and I was just happy to be competing with how my freshman season went.”

But when it came to the maturation process, no season held as much weight as his freshman year. Despite knowing the importance of grades in the long run, Jackson had a conversation with Eastern Michigan wide receivers coach Herb Haywood and that stuck with him more than any opposing defensive back.

“They came to check me out my freshman year and my name was bouncing around,” Jackson said. “But he told me that there was nothing they could do with me because of my grades. It opened my eyes ... and now I feel like nothing can slow me down.”

Since then, Jackson has declared as a social sciences major and will head to Ypsilanti, Mich. for summer ball in June.

Although he knows there is plenty of work left for him to do with hopes of going to the NFL and allowing his parents to retire early, Jackson hopes that other kids from Wood will learn from the example he’s carved for himself the last two years at the JUCO level.

“I want to motivate everyone that may think high school ball is it for them,” he said. “Don’t give up on it if you feel in your heart that it can take you places. If you feel that you can do it, go out and do what you can to make it happen.”